Expression assay of calcium signaling related lncRNAs in autism.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Calcium signaling has essential roles in the neurodevelopmental processes and pathophysiology of related disorders for instance autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS AND RESULTS: We compared expression of SLC1A1, SLC25A12, RYR2 and ATP2B2, as well as related long non-coding RNAs, namely LINC01231, lnc-SLC25A12, lnc-MTR-1 and LINC00606 in the peripheral blood of patients with ASD with healthy children. Expression of SLC1A1 was lower in ASD samples compared with control samples (Expression ratio (95% CI) 0.24 (0.08-0.77), adjusted P value = 0.01). Contrary, expression of LINC01231 was higher in cases compared with control samples (Expression ratio (95% CI) 25.52 (4.19-154), adjusted P value = 0.0006) and in male cases compared with healthy males (Expression ratio (95% CI) 28.24 (1.91-418), adjusted P value = 0.0009). RYR2 was significantly over-expressed in ASD children compared with control samples (Expression ratio (95% CI) 4.5 (1.16-17.4), adjusted P value = 0.029). Then, we depicted ROC curves for SLC1A1, LINC01231, RYR2 and lnc-SLC25A12 transcripts showing diagnostic power of 0.68, 0.75, 0.67 and 0.59, respectively. CONCLUSION: To sum up, the current study displays possible role of calcium related genes and lncRNAs in the development of ASD.